Sicilian Pickled Eggplant

Pickling is a great way to use up my excess homegrown eggplant, as the quantity processes right down to comparatively small and manageable quantities. This pickle can to be eaten with roasted Mediterranean vegetables, with cheese, salads, and will be the star of any antipasta platter.

The recipe was given to me by Kara during a visit from Brisbane, and was handed  to her by her Sicilian neighbour. Rod and Kara have progressed from being fairly uninterested in eating eggplant to raving about  the variety of dishes that their neighbour can create with his homegrown eggplant, including this pickle. Sicilian pickled eggplant on toast for breakfast? I am not sure about that, but apparently Rod is hooked.

I like to use smaller eggplant if possible as they seem much crisper, less bitter, and easier to work with, but of course you will need more.  The size probably doesn't really matter though with this pickle given the processes involved.

Adjust the amount of garlic and herbs according to your tastes, but remember that they will be actively flavouring your pickle beautifully whilst marinating in the refrigerator. If you can acquire some fresh garlic from the markets, and it has recently been harvested all over the country, that will be a bonus.
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Ingredients:

6 large or 12 small eggplants,
Salt
2 litres vinegar
Vegetable oil
4 large cloves of very fresh garlic
4 red chillies (or 2 if using the large red ones)
Oregano
Parsley
Rosemary

Preparing the eggplant for pickling:

Peel them, top and tail them,  and slice them lengthwise thinly. Salt the slices to remove the liquid and press over night. The ideal way to press them is to place the slices between boards covered with kitchen wrap and weigh them down with bricks. This time I layered them between cutting boards and weighed them down with heavy dishes and books in my kitchen, whatever you have to apply maximum weight. The eggplant needs to be very thin with all the brown juices removed. Some seeds might even pop out in the process.

Sterilise bottles:

Place 4 small pickling bottles in the oven at 120 deg. for 20 minutes to sterilise,  ready for bottling.
Remember to remove the lids and place bottles and lids in separately, not touching.

Pickling the eggplant slices:

• Remove the eggplant from the boards.
• Finely chop garlic, chillies, and herbs and set aside.
• Boil the vinegar in a large saucepan and reduce to a simmer.
• Place the eggplant in the vinegar to coat. 
• Remove eggplant slices and drain and squeeze tightly. ( I use thin plastic gloves for this process, and squeeze them between clean tea towels in a few batches.) The squeezing is very therapeutic, and the eggplant flesh is firm enough to maintain it's texture. Believe me, it needs a really good squeeze to remove the last traces of vinegar and juices. Lots of eggplant seeds will fall out, this is fine, and can be shaken out form the tea towels quite easily. There are still plenty of seeds left.
• Mix vegetable oil, eggplant, garlic, chilli, and chopped herbs,  in a medium sized bowl. Mix it up well with your hands. I used gloves because of the chillies.
• Place the pickled eggplant in your sterilised jars, squashing the mixture down as hard as you can  below the  rim of the jar, allowing enough room to cover the eggplant with vegetable oil.
• The idea is to minimise the amount of oil in the jar as the eggplant will absorb the flavour of the oil very easily, and I didn't want that to happen.  That is also why the milder vegetable oil is used instead of olive oil.
• Seal and keep jars in the refrigerator and eat within a couple of weeks.

Easy Tuna Kedgeree (our Family Friday Night Special Recipe)

Friday Night Special is a McNee family recipe originally passed on by Neil's sister, Suzanne, many years ago. Whilst I still rely on memory, it was a good excuse to talk to Sue tonight to find out what the original recipe actually was. I had remembered it fairly well, but have obviously gradually increased the quantity of curry powder over the years. The original recipe was only two teaspoons.

Aussie Meat Pie and Sour Cream Pastry (Beef Pie)

Everyone loves a good meat pie, and even though it takes a bit of work it is well worth the effort, even in the summer  heat. It is also an economical meal, and feeds a crowd, or means you have leftovers for a couple of days. Buying good quality chuck steak is the secret, and I ask the butcher to slice it for me from a whole chuck and then dice it myself into 3 cm cubes.

Easy Vegetable Quiche Recipe

Quiche is such an easy and tasty solution on those nights when there has been no time to prepare ahead and shop for special ingredients. Most of the ingredients except perhaps the cream, are fairly standard items in most kitchens. I grow my own herbs, and generally have a few different types of vegetables on hand so preparation is very simple.  I  often also serve quiche for a nutritious and sustaining lunch and everyone always enjoys it.

This is a versatile recipe where the vegetables, herbs and cheese used are all optional according to what you have on hand, and the real bonus is that I don't need to make pastry, although I do love a nice, crisp pastry.

This is my version of the recipe my dear friend Noela gave me many years ago, and brings back many pleasant memories whenever I bake it.

Ingredients:

• 4 free range eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup Self Raising Flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup fresh cream or low fat sour cream
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 1/2 cups grated tasty low fat cheese
• 2 cups finely chopped vegetables and ham (including any combination of capsicum, celery, zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli, fresh asparagus and thawed frozen peas) (ham is also optional)
• 2 tablespoons chopped herbs including flat leaf parsley and 2 teaspoons chopped thyme (Thyme is quite a strongly flavoured herb so not as much is needed in a recipe)

Let's Cook:

1. Combine beaten eggs, flour, milk, cream and butter. Whisk until all lumps have disappeared and it is a nice, even consistency.

2. Stir in cheese, herbs  and vegetable filling. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Pour into a 24 cm  lightly greased quiche or pie dish.

4. Garnish the surface with thinly sliced capsicum, or thinly sliced zucchini.

5. Bake at 180 deg. c for 40 mins. or until cooked and nicely browned.

Serve with a crisp tossed salad and vinaigrette.

ITALIAN APPLE AND COCONUT CAKE

1 dessertspoon plain flour
2 Granny Smith apples or any other cooking apples
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup walnuts ( with extra to sprinkle on top before baking)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup shredded (not desiccated) coconut
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
150g butter, melted
2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur (or use almond essence)
Icing sugar (for decoration)

Method:

1. Set oven to 180 deg. C(350 deg. F) and grease a 23cm spring form cake pan or just a round cake tin.
2. Sprinkle a dessertspoon of plain flour into the tin and coat the inside of the tin lightly with the flour.
3. Wash the apples well and dry with a clean cloth. Leave the apples unpeeled. With peel on, core and dice the apples into small chunks about one and a half cm square. Toss the apple chunks in a small quantity of lemon juice to avoid them browning, then drain off the lemon juice and place the apple into a large mixing bowl.
4. Tip the walnuts onto a cutting board and sprinkle with one tablespoon sugar. Chop the walnuts, or crush under a rolling pin using greaseproof paper to cover the nuts, or use a food processor,   and add with sugar to the mixing bowl containing the apples.
5. Into the same mixing bowl, add the raisins and coconut. Mix well.
6. Into a separate large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
7. Into a third (small) mixing) bowl, break the eggs, add sugar and beat with an electric mixer until light and lemon-coloured.
8. Still beating the egg mixture, add the melted butter and the liqueur or essence.
9. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the egg mixture. Stir until well combined.
10. Add the apple mixture to the flour and egg mixture. Stir until well combined. At this stage it may seem that you have too much apple and not enough cake mix. Don't worry, the cake will turn out beautifully.
11. Turn the mixture into the prepared cake tin. If you desire sprinkle some walnuts on top.
12. Bake at 180 deg. C or 350 deg. F on the centre shelf of the oven for about 45 to 50 minutes or until the top of the cake has turned a nice golden brown. To test whether the cake is cooked, insert a metal skewer into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
13. Allow to cool, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with King Island cream.

TIP:  If you don't have any Amaretto liqueur, you can use almond essence. The amount you need to use will depend on the strength of the essence you buy. Use your own judgement - strong essence may need only a few drops, a weaker essence may require half a teaspoon.

Enjoy!

Roast eggplants or aubergines with sweet and sour tomatoes

Eggplants or aubergines lend themselves to so many cultural cooking styles by happily absorbing the flavours bestowed upon them. This recipe is a version of the classic Middle Eastern recipe imam biyaldi, meaning "the Imam swooned", because it was so delicious. This is a healthier version though, using less olive oil, and adapting some flavours form the Sicilian aubergine dish, caponata. This is my version of the wonderful recipe provided by  Hugh at River Cottage.

I grow my own eggplants, and try to cook them the same day that they are picked when they are still delightfully crisp and not bitter. They are organically grown, assisted by the very useful and wonderful Ladybird Beetles or Ladybugs (Coccinellidae) busily working away on the leaves to remove all of the aphids which eggplant leaves seem to attract in the North. Interestingly though, the Ladybugs are considered useful insects, and not bugs by entomologists.

Throughout time there have been superstitious beliefs that it was unlucky to kill a ladybird, which is a great thing because they are so useful to the environment and the success of our crops. Another superstition was that if a ladybird lands on you and you chant the following verse, your wish will come true if it flies away.  I grew up knowing the verse, taught to me by my Mum, and probably used by farmers who instead of killing the prolific ladybirds in their fields tried to convince them to fly home. So if a ladybird lands on you, always chant the following verse, and bring some good luck.

Ladybird, ladybird fly away home,

Your house is on fire and your children are gone,

All except one,

And her name is Ann,

And she hid under the baking pan.

For more information on Australian Ladybirds go to: http://www.ento.csiro.au/biology/ladybirds/ladybirds.htm

I was also very fortunate to have organically grown, and freshly harvested garlic to use in this recipe, from Eungella, near Mackay, North Queensland, a thoughtful gift from my wonderful neighbour Ann.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 eggplants (about 750 g in total)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or canola oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 large red or brown onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (ideally apple balsamic)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon tomato puree
50g macro Organic Thompson Raisins, sultanas (or whatever you have on hand)
250g Woolworths Gold Australian Sweet Solanato or cherry tomatoes, halved (or home grown if possible)
50g pine nuts, lightly toasted
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped flat-leaf parsley or mint, to finish (optional) -
(I used parsley because my home grown mint didn't survive in the heat whilst we were away, but I think mint would provide a crisper flavour)

Preheat the oven to 190 deg C/Gas 5.

Halve each aubergine down the middle, from stalk to base. Use a sharp knife to make diagonal cuts deep into the cut side of the flesh, going almost through to the skin but not quite, about 1.5 cm apart. Repeat the other way to create a diamond pattern.

Measure out 2 tablespoons of the oil and brush it all over the cut aubergine flesh, using a pastry brush to work it into the cuts. Now stuff the slices of garlic into the cuts so that each aubergine half has a good share of garlic. Season the flesh well with salt and pepper. Put the aubergine halves in a large roasting dish and bake for 30 minutes.

Combine the onion, balsamic vinegar, sugar, tomato puree, sultanas or raisins and remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large bowl. Mix well, then stir in the tomatoes.

After the first 30 minutes, the eggplants should be looking nice and tender and browning off. Add the onion and tomato mixture to the roasting dish, pushing it around the aubergine halves so they are snugly surrounded but not covered. Trickle 100ml water over the tomatoes and onions (not the aubergines) and return the whole lot to the oven for another 30 minutes.

As soon as the dish comes out of the oven, spoon the soft onions and tomatoes and all their juices on top of the aubergines, so each one has a nice covering. Leave to settle for 10 minutes or so, then serve, scattered with the toasted pine nuts, and parsley or mint, if using. Serve with a green salad and/or rice.

This is such a satisfying dish and tastes even better the following day when reheated as leftovers.

So dear reader do you enjoy the old superstitions and rhymes you were taught when growing up about plants and insects, and often think about them when you are wandering about in your garden or cooking?

Growing Turmeric and it's health benefits

Turmeric, planted two months ago

New Guinea bottle brush offering some  shade for the turmeric growing below

Turmeric along with ginger, is now recognised as a great anti-inflammatory, and will increase blood circulation,  therefore increasing energy levels. There is also active research into its value for preventing dementia. Instead of just using powdered turmeric, grate the fresh root along with fresh ginger, and use them in your scrambled eggs for a zingy start to the day.